The 2019 Bruin Girls Varsity Volleyball team is ready to dig into this season.

This year’s team started meeting last school year in early May. This is due to the fact that with most varsity sports, there comes a strong dedication to practice. Longtime Varsity Coach Matt MacDonald said that he has great expectations for this current season.

“It’s been good,” said Coach MacDonald. “… We played some really good teams and did some great things and we kinda got a chance to see how we’d be against other people. We’re excited and it’s going to be a good year.”

Teams are built upon collaboration, which can spark life-long friendships. The Varsity Girls said that they are excited about team bonding time. 

“Our team is pretty close this year,” said Junior Summer Huntley.  “I think we’re going to mesh well when we play, so I think it will be good. We lost a lot of players, but we also gained a lot of players, and it’s a lot different this year, but I think it’ll be good.”

Junior Sydney Franks said that she felt similarly. 

“I’m very excited about where we go,” said Franks. “Because I think our team has a lot of potential and [we] hope that we get farther than we did last year… everyone on the team is so talented and they also work really hard.” 

Senior Bella Thornbury described the strength of the team.

“I would say that our season has started off really strong,” said Thornbury. “I think we’re going to be way better than last year.”

Franks elaborated on why she believes that this team is going to succeed, as compared to years prior.

“I just think everyone’s work ethic is going to make the team a lot better,” said Franks. “Everyone wants us to succeed and everyone is going to put in the effort in order for us to succeed.”

Coach MacDonald said that there are certain players who are going above and beyond for the team this year.

“We got a couple,” Coach MacDonald said. “It starts with Bella Thornbury. She’s a stud, she was an all-league player last year… she’s going to be our setter, so she’s been working really hard in the off-season through her club team, and through the stuff we’ve been doing to just take over that position and be really good at it.

He went on to describe another exemplary player.

“The other returning all-league player we have is Julie Bristol,” he said. “She’s our returning libero for us … she’s been doing a great job, had a very good off-season and is healthy and ready to roll.”

One thing about every team, there is always a big rival. 

“Our biggest rival is for sure Colfax,” said Thornbury “Last year we lost to them in the longest overtime possible by the smallest amount and we were all just really upset. I think this year we want to come back and get that league title because Colfax got that last year and we’re not letting that happen.”

Huntley also said that she felt that Colfax was their biggest rival.

“[They’ve] always been Bear River’s rival,” said Huntley “… and we always get super close to beating them every year and we really just want to beat them this year.”

The Varsity team is ready to face this season with high hopes. 

“I feel like, overall, this group is really committed to just getting better,” said Coach MacDonald. “We talk about our goals, and our task goals, and individual things we need to work on. I really feel like they’re competitive, they’re dedicated, incredibly dedicated, they’re serious about wanting to do well and wanting to get better. I really feel like that’s kind of what is the identity of this team is, that they’re really positive.”